


as small as stardust

by fanfoolishness (LoonyLupin), LoonyLupin



Series: Starshine Over Beach City: Moments from Steven Universe [10]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Fatherhood, Gen, Parenthood, Post-Episode: s05e04 Lars' Head
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-12-28 05:04:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21131120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoonyLupin/pseuds/fanfoolishness, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoonyLupin/pseuds/LoonyLupin
Summary: Greg's always known that the gem war was beyond him, but he never imagined it'd be here on the boardwalk; never imagined how much weight would lie in Steven's hands.It makes it hard to sleep at night.





	as small as stardust

He’s helpless, and so are the gems, and Steven’s room is empty. Connie’s eyes are swollen from crying and Greg’s filled with a buzzing toneless panic. And somewhere in the frantic worry Connie and Sadie tell him Lars is missing too.

Greg finds himself in the Barrigas’ living room with a tearful Sadie, and the gems clustered silent, anxious, behind him. He doesn’t know how to explain where their son is. Sadie tries. The gems try. Greg looks at Mr. and Mrs. Barriga and he realizes he must have that same hollow look. _Our boys are missing._

* * *

Six days.

Six days, Steven’s gone. Greg doesn’t eat unless Amethyst shoves something at him or Connie shares a granola bar with him. She’s a good kid. Steven couldn’t have a better friend.

Lars, though, Greg never spent much time with Lars. Sure, he knew the surly, awkward kid from the Big Donut. Who didn’t? And Steven always seemed to like him, but then again Steven liked everyone. Sometimes he can hardly bear it, how kind Steven is.

Greg misses him so much he can’t breathe; misses his son so much he can’t sleep.

* * *

But suddenly Steven is back, he's _back. _Greg cries, and Steven cries, and he just holds his son, holds him and swears to never let him out of his sight again.

Steven stumbles over his words. Muddles them. It comes out of him slow and halting, nothing like his joy or his music. He explains why he’s alone. Why Lars isn’t back. What happened.

What Steven did.

Greg barely remembers the second visit to the Barrigas’ house. He just remembers Steven pale and teary, and that hollow look on their faces. Steven swears to them he’ll find a way to bring Lars home. They nod with empty eyes.

They don’t believe him. How could they?

Greg still can’t sleep, lying awake in the van, imagining the teenager from the Big Donut dead on a world full of gems. And though Steven says Lars isn’t dead now, that’s an even weirder and scarier thought in some ways, a rabbit hole that never ends, a nightmare where Steven brings people back from the dead and the gem war kills awkward kids from the boardwalk, and Greg feels very, very small.

**Author's Note:**

> There is no way as a dad that Greg would just be okay with everything that went down on Homeworld with Lars. No effing way.
> 
> (Says the childfree woman who puts all her parental feelings on Steven Universe, but sure, go off, self.)


End file.
